Sunday Night Football analysts Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison were asked the same question. Would you pick Tom Brady or Peyton Manning to quarterback your team?

"I think that's going to be pretty easy to answer for both of us," Dungy said during a conference call this week.

Dungy was correct and believe it or not, neither picked Brady.

"If I had one game to win," Dungy said, "with any of the quarterbacks I've been around in my NFL career, I'd want to have Peyton Manning."

Considering Dungy coached Manning for eight years and won a Super Bowl with him, it should come as no surprise that he chose Manning, but Harrison played on two of Brady's three Super Bowl championship teams with New England. Then again, he's never been afraid to criticize the Pats since he became an analyst.

"I think Peyton has been so unfairly judged," Harrison explained, "because he didn't really have that great defense over the years like Tom. Tom had a lot of veteran players, a lot of really good defenses where if he didn't play particularly well, he knew that he had a defense with a lot of veteran players that could save him, whereas Peyton really didn't have that advantage. If Peyton was on our team, I think we could have easily won three Super Bowls, no doubt about it."

On Sunday night, Manning and the 9-1 Broncos will visit Brady and the 7-3 Patriots at Gillette Stadium on NBC.

Brady is 9-4, including 2-1 in the postseason, against Manning, but Manning owns far better stats than Brady this season, including throwing for 34 touchdowns with six interceptions compared to Brady's 14 TDs and seven picks. Some of Brady's drop-off this season can be attributed to growing accustomed to a new receiving corps, but Harrison points elsewhere.

"When they look at the film," Harrison said of the Broncos, "and they see the Patriots' offensive line they should be smiling because that offensive line, they're not very good right now. A lot of injuries, some new guys playing, just not very good. You can see it in Tom."

Harrison said he and Dungy have talked throughout the first half of the season about how "unstable and unsettled" Brady looked behind his offensive line.

"I think it has a huge part in the fact that Tom, he's struggled," Harrison said. "This is probably the worst I've seen him play and the last couple of weeks have been better, but probably the worst I've seen him play in the 10 years I've known Tom."

Nevertheless, Harrison still doesn't believe any other quarterbacks compare to Manning and Brady.

"It would be hard to me," Harrison said, "to see another rivalry like this, two guys so special, great teammates on and off the field and great ambassadors for the NFL."

Harrison rates Manning and Brady similar in their quick releases and the ability to find the open receiver, but he labeled Manning as "maybe a little more of a brainiac than Brady."

Sunday night should be one of the most watched NFL games of the season.

Harrison went so far as to predict that it would be the most watched NFL game ever on NBC, apparently forgetting that NBC has televised quite a few Super Bowls.

Harrison was known for his physical play, some would say cheap shots, as a safety, but he thought Pats cornerback Aqib Talib lost his cool when he grabbed the leg of Carolina receiver Steve Smith and wouldn't let go last Monday.

"I knew it was over for him," Harrison said. "First thing when that happened, I looked at my brother and said this is the wrong guy. Steve Smith, he lives for this. When you elevate Steve Smith's game by trying to out-physical him — I played against him in the Super Bowl — you can't. You can't intimidate him He's one of the toughest guys to ever put on a football uniform at any position.

"He's a veteran player. He knows how to get in your head. He's going to irk you and he's going to edge you on all game long. And I just thought he (Talib) lost his composure and ultimately it hurt the team."

Wes Welker, who leads the Broncos in receptions after years of being Brady's favorite receiver, will face his first team for the first time if he's cleared after suffering a concussion last week.

"As much as we focus on his production on the field," Harrison said, "I think the thing that really makes him great and really has elevated his career is his willingness to learn the system and learn his quarterback."

Contact Bill Doyle at wdoyle@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillDoyle15.

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